Many persons desire to maintain a handgun in their home for personal defense. A handgun however is a dangerous item in the possession of an unauthorized user. For example, it is essential that a properly stored handgun not be accessible to a small child, an intruder or another unauthorized user. Accordingly, handguns are often stored in locked enclosures generally referred to as handgun safes or gun safes.
A handgun must be immediately accessible, if the handgun is to properly fulfill the role of personal or home defense. For example, if a homeowner awakens in the middle of the night and realizes that an intruder is present in his or her home, it is critical that the homeowner be able to immediately access his defensive weapon. The requirement of easy and immediate access to a handgun, even in the dark, substantially contradicts the requirement that the handgun be safely and securely stored away from unauthorized users. In particular, conventional handgun safes with complicated touch pad locks, keys or other security devices may be difficult or impossible to open quickly and efficiently in an emergency. Furthermore, a conventional handgun safe may be unobtrusively stored in an out of the way closet or other relatively remote storage area, thus enhancing the possibility that an intruder will place himself between the handgun owner and his or her defensive weapon, defeating the purpose of owning a gun for home defense.
A conventional handgun safe is strictly utilitarian. The safe or lockbox is not an attractive item if it is placed on a nightstand near the owner's bed for example. Furthermore, a gun safe stored in the open may attract the attention of children, intruders, thieves or other unauthorized persons. The embodiments disclose herein are directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems identified above.